UK's first recipient of total artificial heart set to go home

A 40-year-old father has been told he is well enough to leave hospital after becoming the first person in the UK to receive a total artificial heart implant.

Matthew Green underwent the six-hour operation at Papworth Hospital on June 9th after becoming critically ill with end-stage biventricular heart failure, where both sides of the heart are failing.

Doctors were unable to find a suitable donor heart, so Mr Green's surgeons decided to replace his damaged heart with an artificial temporary device, which will take over the role of his own heart until a donor organ can be found.

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The device allows up to 9.5l of blood to be pumped throughout the body each minute, thereby preventing the symptoms and effects of severe heart failure.

Steven Tsui, the consultant cardiothoracic surgeon who led the transplant team, said: 'Matthew's condition was deteriorating rapidly and we discussed with him the possibility of receiving this device, because without it he may not have survived the wait until a suitable donor heart could be found for him.

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'I expect him to go home very soon, being able to do a lot more than before the operation with a vastly improved quality of life, until we can find a suitable donor heart for him to have a heart transplant.'

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, revealed that the total mechanical heart can be used for anyone with severe heart failure, as it replaces both sides of the heart.

He explained: 'Patients with mechanical hearts must remain permanently linked to a power supply via tubes that pass through the skin, which is a potential source of infection. With this artificial heart, the power supply is small enough to fit in a shoulder bag, so patients can walk around and go home.'

The professor noted that mechanical hearts are not a permanent solution and that patients will still need a heart transplant in the future.

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